2 Corinthians 13:11, “Finally brothers and sisters, rejoice!  Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace.  And the God of love and peace will be with you.  

I’m afraid too often we are more concerned about being vindicated or having justice than we are restoration.  We have been conditioned over the years, unfortunately by the world, to put “me first”.  That is the opposite of what the Word of God tells us.  I understand wanting to be vindicated and I understand wanting justice but we are called to more than just that.  I’m not saying God won’t do those things of course,  because His Word says He will, but we must understand that there are times when you are going to have to be willing to forgive and seek restoration first.  

I have found that when I am pushing for God to vindicate and bring justice I lose all perspective of the spiritual well being of the other person.  You become consumed with how the justice and vindication will make you feel better about the wrong that was done instead of being consumed with what will bring glory to God.  I get the fact that sometimes being vindicated sounds so much more “rewarding” than seeking the restoration of that person so they can be who God created them to be.  We need to retrain our brains to understand that seeking God means that we are willing to allow Him to look out for our best interest and we trust that He will bring justice and vindication when and where it is warranted.  We don’t have to pursue it, we need to pursue Him.  Living a godly life is not always comfortable.  I just had this conversation with Abby the other day:  “The path to doing something wrong is an easy ride because the only thing fighting you is your conscience and if you have turned that off well then there’s nothing holding you back and all hell is helping you get there.  When you seek to do what is right then all Hell will come against you and you must learn to fully rely on God!  God loves you and wants what is best for you while satan is out to destroy you.  God wants you to focus on Him and satan wants you to focus on yourself.  God sees your potential and so does satan so satan is going to do everything he can to keep you from it. “ 

How many relationships would be saved if both parties decided to follow 2 Corinthians 13:11?  There’s so much hate and anger in the world right now and the only way to bring the change that is needed is to allow God to fill you with His love, mercy, and grace until it just spills out of you all over everyone that crosses your path.  Ask God to fill you with His love for those people you find difficult to forgive.  Start praying that God will give you a heart for restoration or salvation if they don’t know Him, for those who have done you wrong.  Trust God to always do what is right and best.  Give it all to Him knowing that truly His best is yet to come if you are walking with Him.

Quote:  “Each of us will one day be judged by our standard of life, not by our standard of living; by our measure of giving, not by our measure of wealth; by our simple goodness, not by our seeming greatness.”  ~ William Arthur Ward